May 2020 FREE! The Meath Coaster Magazine and Services DirectoryExamination, Scale, Polish & X-RaysDon’t su er with Toothache We have a walk in Emergency Service. No appointment needed Just call in to our surgery. Save Money Have 2 fillings done at the same appointment Belfast Prices Mon - Fri 8am to 8pm Saturday 9am to 5pm Nervous Patient? Don’t worry, we specialise in treating nervous patients. Talk to us and let us put you at ease Whitening Our take home teeth whitening kit is the best value in Ireland €€40 o €450 days a week We open late 6 each Join us on Facebook or visit us online €40 for Medical Card Patients For example multiple crowns (2 or more) We have a team of Anna, Chris, Claire, Estefany, Fiona, James, John, Rebecca, Sara, Shauna and Sue are looking forward to meeting you dedicated dentists 11 FREE for RSI patients www.balbriggandentalcare.ie 120WALK IN EMERGENCY SERVICE ++ Tel: Web: 59 Drogheda Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin (between Supervalu & the Garda Station) Dr. John Heeney & Associates B.A., B. Dent. Sc. Hons (T.C.D.), B. Rad (U.C.D.), D.C.R. (London) Tel: 01 - 841 7344 www.balbriggandentalcare.ie 01841 73 44 8 to 8 Dental Balbriggan Balbriggan The Chief Dental Officer has restricted dental practice to emergency treatment only during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.© May 2020 The Meath Coaster 4 The Meath Coaster Magazine and Services Directory S ince June 2005, T he Meath Coaster is published monthly and distributed in County Meath between Grange Rath, Donacarney, Mornington, Bettystown, Laytown, Julianstown and Stamullen, as well as in some local shops. Each print issue has over 7,000 copies. The Coaster Digital Edition is available online @ www. meathcoaster.com/library, This month’s cover of a ploughed field at Mock Castle in Ballygarth Julianstown by John Jo Boyle. If you have any interesting seasonal photos or of local people or places, send your photos to the Meath Coaster at dermot@meathcoaster.com Your Local Media We proudly promote Citizen Journalism which means ordinary citizens “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information” All our articles are directly submitted by local people. As a local publication serving our communities, if there is something you’d like to submit for publication, please email it to the address below. We try our best to publish all local material but the pages fill up fast! . CONTACT DETAILS Address for correspondence: The Meath Coaster 147 Betaghstown Wood Bettystown Co. Meath Phone: 041 9813860 Email: dermot@meathcoaster.com All Rights Reserved © Meath Coaster 2020 PRINT DEADLINES T he Coaster goes to print on the Friday before the last Sunday in every month. The closing date for the JUNE issue is Friday May 29 th Distribution begins with the weekend of the First Sunday in the month Delivery of the May issue may also be subject to Covid-19 restrictions Due to continuing Government Covid-19 restrictions, this month's edition is again a non-commercial digital only publicationProviding Professional Print Services to Meath Coaster Since 2009 19 Fair St, Drogheda, A92 VN2K T: 041-9803135 / 9810505 E: info@beulahprint.ie W: beulahprint.ie L oa e u u er o !• Free Sales Valuation. • Expert Sales and Marketing Strategy. • Local Knowledge. • Personalised Service. Proven Results. FOR SALE FOR SALEFOR SALE FOR SALE Cois Na Mara, Bettystown 4 Bed & 3 Bath Price region €295,000 The Village, Bettystown 3 Bed & 1 Bath Price region €125,000 Northlands, Bettystown 3 Bed & 3 Bath Price region €215,000 Macville, Bettystown 3 Bed & 1 Bath Price region €215,000 An Ri Rua , Bettystown 2 Bed & 2 Bath Price region €160,000 Pasadena, Bettystown 4 Bed & 3 Bath Price on application FOR SALE FOR SALEFOR SALEFOR SALE Mornington Manor Drive 3 Bed & 2 Bath Price region €300,000 Eastham Court, Bettystown 2 Bed & 2 Bath Price region €185,000 meath@bohanhyland.ie FOR RENTFOR RENTFOR RENT RENTED & MANAGED RENTED & MANAGED RENTED & MANAGED RENTED & MANAGED RENTED & MANAGED An Colm Choille, Bettystown 2 Bed & 2 Bath €1,200 pm An Colm Choille, Bettystown 1 Bed & 1 Bath €950 pm Moylaragh Way, Balbriggan 2 Bed & 2 Bath €945 pm The Park, BryanstownThe Anchorage, Bettystown Mornington, Co. MeathAn Ria Rua, BettystownStrandview, Bettystown Meath@bohanhyland.ie www.bohanhyland.ie 041 9812222 Meath Office Bohan Hyland & Associates Bettystown Town Centre Bettystown, Co. Meath RENTED AND MANAGED© May 2020 The Meath Coaster 8 Coláiste na hInse Update from An Príomhoide D ear Dáltaí/Tuismitheoirí/Guardians, I hope you had a restful Easter and that the new realities of our daily lives are as good as they can be. For most of you, the lovely beaches of Meath’s ‘Gold Coast’ are within 2km and given the won- derful weather are a great (socially dis- tant!) amenity. Over Easter the Senior Leadership Team as promised dug deep into the question- naire feedback and decided that it was a common approach that everyone needed so that students and teachers knew what the expectations were. We published the Phase 2 document which focused on 3 key areas: Communication, Teaching and Learning, and Student Support with an IT support document attached. We hope it gave clarity to all. We were not surprised to have some stu- dents, parents and teachers enquire about ‘live’ MS Teams classes. We have consult- ed our patron and our own IT department and thought hard about our decision. Until we can overcome the concerns we have, we will stick with our current systems. We are not staying still on this and consult daily with different groups to investigate further. Indeed we are now preparing for ‘Phase 3’ where we will be focusing ex- clusively on 6 th years, where we can wrap the entire might of the staff around this high priority group. We remain vigilant, awaiting updates and reacting to our new environment and we thank you for your support in helping us do that. Live Viewing of Billy Elliott Iníon McCormack has organised a live viewing of our 2018 production of Billy Elliot for Friday night! (May 1 st ) We can’t wait to settle in for the evening and relive that fantastic production. Updates: State Examinations While Junior Certificate is postponed a full understanding of how the exams will take place in the new academic year is not fully completed yet. The DoES are active- ly working on how this will look but obvi- ously the Leaving Certificate takes prec- edence. My message to 3 rd years is to keep going with your work and stay in contact with your Caomhnóirí. On April 29 th the Minister announced that “All third year Junior Cycle students to be awarded certificates for the comple- tion of Junior Cycle by the Department of Education and Skills. As soon as possible after the end of the current school year, students will receive a written school re- port on their learning achievements in each subject, short course and/or priority learning unit Schools are also being given autonomy to decide whether to run school-based as- sessments and what form they take. Op- tions to consider include school-designed examinations, tasks, projects, assign- ments, essay style questions, presenta- tions, or other tasks agreed at a local lev- el. Guidance for schools on reporting to students and parents, developed with the advice of the advisory group of stakehold- ers, will be published by the Department. This gives schools freedom to decide how © May 2020 The Meath Coaster 9 best to assess the progress of students following three years of hard work and learning” The Minister has confirmed that, subject to public health advice, the Leaving Cer- tificate will begin on 29 th July. At the very least it gives a date to focus on. The de- tails have not been arranged as yet but we will keep you updated. Connectivity There is an acceptance that many homes have very heavy pressure on limited de- vices. With parents trying to work and all the children trying to access school e- mails students need independent devices. CNI Parents and leadership have organ- ised for students in 6 th year to get access to devices to work from. Minister Mc Hugh has announced funding for same but no details are known as yet. However CNI is not standing still on this and if your child is in 6 th year and needs to discuss access to a device with the Réaltóir please send an e-mail to the Réaltóir and cc Deputy Principal Sarah Ross. And thank you to members of our community who are sup- porting us with this behind the scenes! Non-State Examination Classes As you will have noted in our Phase 2 document we have responded to students feedback by reducing the amount of work and communication to them. Also the in- clusion of a capturing of ‘Other Learn- ing’ outside the curriculum is very valu- able. Learning is every day whether it be learning how to bake a cake, gardening, Continued over....Next >